When the rain falls
by coconutball-kitty
Summary: AU. When her mother kicks her out, Kagome doesn't know where to go.Guess who's there to help her? InuKag
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Inuyasha, and that applies to all chapters of this story.  
  
**A/N: **That's my first fanfiction so please review and tell me what you think

**A mother's love **

There was no other way out. It was the terrible , naked truth and this time she couldn't avoid it. She would have to talk to her mother. Unchangeable , horrible fact.  
  
Kagome just came to that decision. Cruel , but the right thing to do.  
  
Frustrated , she kicked a flyer out of the way. The paper rustled and floated away through the empty hallway. Kagome let go a depressed sigh "holidays.." Every other student would possibly jump in the air out of joy if he had heard that word. But not Kagome. To her , "holidays" was the most horrible word in the entire world. Admittedly , it meant that she wouldn't have to see that loathed private school together with its snobbish students , who didn't even seem to recognize her, for full seven weeks ,  
but it also meant that she would have to endure _4 weeks alone with her mother_, without even being allowed to leave the flat. Even spending every day of her useless life in this private school as an outcast would be better than spending these 4 weeks with her mother.  
  
Kagome got yanked out of her thoughts by the school bell , which shrilled through the otherwise deathly silent building. She sighed again , looked up sadly and stopped right in front of the exit , behind her a school which had been left by all human beings for what seemed like eternity, only leaving a few pieces of paper and a lonely ticking clock behind.  
  
She let her eyes wander over the shiny lockers one last time , turned around and slowly made her way out of the school building.  
  
Kagome unlocked the door with a small click and pushed it open a bit. She stuck her head through the opening and shouted: 'Mum, I'm home!!!'  
  
No answer. Like she expected. Nobody had ever greeted Kagome in the Higurashi– household. Nobody talked to Kagome in the Higurashi– household anyway.  
  
After a moment's hesitation, Kagome stepped inside the flat. She ruthlessly threw her schoolbag into the corner and moved in the direction of the kitchen. 'Mum?' Silence. Kagome peered around the corner and found her mother sitting at the kitchen table , motionless and staring right through her. In front of her stood an empty bottle of rum.  
  
_Oh no.  
  
_Was all Kagome thought.  
  
She had drunk again.  
  
But it was already too late . She had to finish what she had started. Now or never.  
  
She slowly made her way across the room and sat down as quietly as possible. She pulled her legs under the chair and took a deep breath.  
  
"Mother , I have to talk to you... . It's urgent."  
  
For a few minutes nobody said anything and Kagome just watched the clouds of smoke move around between her and her opposite. Then her mother said in an indifferent , bored tone:  
  
"Don't you have homework to do?"  
  
Kagome felt her anger rising. It always got her angry to see her mother like that. Since her father had literally disappeared , her mother had slowly , but steadily wasted away. First , Kagome had tried to help her , but had given up hope after two years. Now, she was only angry on her mother for letting herself become a wrack like that, Getting drunk every day and doing drugs. But still ,she couldn't leave her alone , could she? After all ,she was still her mother. So, she just retorted,  
  
"No. I don't. I've got holidays."  
  
"So what???", her mother responded sharply "Just leave me alone."  
  
At that point ,Kagome just wanted to punch her right in the face , but she mustn't loose her temper at that point – she had to go through with this now , otherwise she would never be able to do it.  
  
'No. We must talk – we have serious problems with each other. We – ' Her mother cut her off through mid-sentence and jumped up from her chair, yelling:

"OH, so we have PROBLEMS , hm?!!! I HAVE PROBLEMS!! – DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THEM??!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAD BEEN THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE ??? YOU!!!!!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!I CAN'T BEAR SEEING YOU ANY MORE!"  
  
Kagome just sat there like frozen on the spot.  
  
She definitely hadn't been prepared for such an outburst. Usually, her mother didn't even react when she talked to her.  
  
In her state of shock , Kagome wasn't able to say anything.  
  
'DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME???'  
  
Puzzled , Kagome raised her head and found herself looking strait in her mother's eyes. Her reek of alcohol was almost unbearable when she hissed:  
  
"get . out."  
  
"I..I just wanted to talk to you.." Kagome whispered , this time seriously afraid.  
  
Instead of a response , her mother just sat back and flexed her fingers around the bottle of rum. Too fast for Kagome to react, her mother smashed the bottle in half and threw it at her.  
  
It hit Kagome's arm and ripped it open . Kagome could feel the warm liquid run down her hand. First , Kagome didn't even realize what had just happened  
  
But then she saw a chair chucked her way and her mother screamed 'I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!'  
  
Without an other word , Kagome dashed out of the room and grabbed her bag. She yanked the door open and ran away as fast as she could – Though , not fast enough to miss her mother screaming  
  
'AND DON'T DARE TO COME BACK EVER AGAIN!!!'

* * *

do you see that little button down there?

Doesn't it look lonely???It wants to be pushed.(hint hint)


	2. lost and found

**A/N:**I just wanted to say thank you  
  
for your reviews!!!climbs on her desk and dances around happily  
  
To be honest, I didn't expect to get any at all!!  
But, on with the show....

* * *

**

* * *

**

**Lost an found**

She didn't know how long she'd been wandering around aimlessly, but the gray afternoon had turned into a clanking clear November's night,  
and suddenly , in the middle of some street , the realization had  
hit her with full force.  
  
She was homeless.  
  
That thought had been slowly dripping in her mind since she left her flat , but just now , the consequences of it had dawned on her. She had nowhere to go.  
  
She was exhausted, exhausted to the core. The night was biting cold. She wore a light-gray miniskirt, a dark-gray pair of tights, a green longsleeved shirt and a much too thin jacket. She tried to pull her clothes tighter around herself. It didn't help much. She had to find a shelter somewhere.  
  
And just when she thought it couldn't come worse ,

the first raindrop plopped on her head. The air picked up to a slight breeze as the rain began to fall harder.  
  
She muttered a curse under her breath and pulled her jacket over her head as she began running. The problem was, she had no idea where to run.  
  
She ran down the sidewalks , passing people with umbrellas instead of heads. She turned right after her favorite park and came to stop in front of a familiar building.

Her school.

She hadn't even thought about coming here till now! At that moment , that building, which she hated with every fibre of her being , seemed to her like the most beautiful place on earth.  
  
Kagome jumped up the stairs to the door in one leap and pressed her ear against the damp wood. Nothing. Not even the tiniest noise. Her heartbeat quickened happily. She HAD somewhere to go! Somehow...  
  
She hopped down on the wet lawn of the school garden and the grass rustled treacherously as she made her way to the backside of the building. She shot a nervous glance in all directions and bent down to a small, barely visible window, which was well covered by vines and old leaves.  
  
She slid her fingers in a small hole on the lower left side of the window and pulled with mild force. A victorious smile spread across her face as the window cracked open with a little 'krk'. She lifted it up and glided through the cramped opening.  
  
Kagome hit the floor with a small thud and looked around in the dim and dusty room. She only knew this place too well. How often had she used this particular chamber when some idiots from her school wanted to beat her up. It wasn't much , but it was something, wasn't it? Tired from walking around in the cold all day, she crawled up in a dusty corner, trying to keep as much body warmth to herself as possible, and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Inuyasha trotted down the empty and barely light corridor , thinking about how he hated meetings like that. He simply didn't understand why he had to be here. The smug smirk his father gave him when he demanded him to stand in for him ''to represent the interests of the Tahiko-corporation'', still lay heavy on his stomach. This time he hadn't been able to talk himself out of it, so he came here with the definite intention to make fun of those stupid business-men who had gathered in the school's banqueting hall.  
  
But so far , the meeting hadn't been any fun at all. When it had become too boring for him to bear it any longer, he had excused himself and escaped into the school's labyrinth of corridors. He had followed the instructions of his grumbling stomach and had begun to look for the kitchen. With his excellent demon senses, he'd easily found his way and was now walking the last few meters to his destination.  
  
Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. His hunger was like blown away. From one second to another ,his nerves were stretched to breaking-point and his senses seemed to work sharper than before. He had heard a noise. It had been tremendously faint, a knock or a rustle , but it didn't belong to the normal noise backdrop of a deserted school. The rustle repeated itself, this time a bit louder and of suspicion became certainty.  
  
Somebody was here.  
  
He sniffed the air carefully .

A delicious smell he'd never smelled before lingered in the air. And it was coming from the kitchen. He slowly moved towards the kitchen door, trying not to make any noise. Breathlessly, he crouched beside the door-frame and considered his next actions. With his demon strength and his quick reactions, the person on the other side had no chance of winning if it came to a fight - at least as long as the person was human.  
  
Taking the risk, he left his hideout and stepped into the kitchen, ready to throw himself into battle.  
  
But it never came to that. He just stood there, somewhere between door and angle, and could do nothing but stare at the angelic figure in front of him.  
  
He'd found the source of the smell.  
  
It was a girl, rummaging through the fridgerator, obviously looking for something to eat. She mumbled incoherent sentences and curses and threw things out of the fridgerator over here shoulder – there was already a small pile on the floor.  
  
As she bend down, her almost waist-long midnight black hair floated over her shoulders like liquid silver, and the moonlight falling through the windows surrounded her silhouette with an elfish glint.  
  
Dumbfounded, he gasped for air. Bad idea.  
  
Abruptly, she straightened up and spun around to face him. Her deep, gray-blue eyes widened in shock as she met his glance.  
  
'What are you doing here?', she asked in a surprised, completely innocent tone.  
  
She looked a bit worn out, and a bit dirty too, but still, he'd never seen anything with the beauty of her.  
  
He just stood there for a few minutes and gawked at her like an idiot. Confused, he looked up into her eyes and, all of a sudden, the world stopped turning.  
  
The moment was ruined when a cup of Ramen slipped out of her grip and fell to the ground. The both lowered their heads in slow-motion to look at the cup. A thought flashed through his head.  
  
_She likes Ramen._  
  
Then, he fortunately found back to his normal self and responded demandingly:

'What are YOU doing here?'  
  
'I...I..', she stuttered utterly confused, and at this moment, she seemed so terribly vulnerable, that he felt the sudden urge to protect her, although he didn't even know her.  
  
Out of nowhere, a loud voice echoed throughout the building: 'Inuyasha!!!'

Inuyasha cringed at the sound and looked back at the door. Nobody there... but the evil would arrive soon... He shrugged and turned back to look at the girl again.  
  
She was gone.  
  
The window was wide open, the rain clattered at the place she'd been standing seconds before, leaving a small puddle, and he could still smell the trace of her scent. He pitied, most of all, that he would probably never smell it again.  
  
'Inuyasha!!!! Finally!!', an annoyed cry rang from the door. 'What are you doing here?'  
  
Inuyasha turned to look at the cause of the noise. As usual , Sango, his secretary.  
  
'Uhh...nothing' he muttered guiltily.

Sango eyed him suspiciously, but then came to the conclusion that he probably couldn't have done anything bad in this kitchen, like causing the third world-war or killing the pope. 'Then , come already, your business partners are waiting for you', she demanded, nervously bobbing up and down with her foot. Then, she swiped around and walked out of the room and down the corridor, her high-heels clattering on the stone.  
  
Inuyasha looked at the window one last time, almost with a hint of regret in his eyes.  
  
'Feh.'  
  
He turned around and followed his secretary, forgetting about the mysterious girl.

* * *

Kagome pressed against the cold brick wall of the school, still paralyzed with terror, her thoughts whizzing through her head like cars on a highway.  
  
What does somebody like him do in a temporary closed school anyway?!  
  
He'd scared her half to death!  
  
She took a deep breath to calm herself, and as the cold air, which was humid from the pouring rain, ran down into her lungs, her mind began to clear itself.  
  
She should have known that it was a stupid idea to break into her school.Stupid.stupid.stupid.  
  
Why did she have to become hungry?? Stupid human basic-needs!  
  
It had begun so wonderful! She'd been starving, so she'd crept out of her broom-closet and gone to the kitchen in search of something to eat...  
  
She'd tip-toed to the fridgerator, opened it and it had been filled to the brim with everything you could ever wish for!! She just would have had to stretch out her arm to get all that yummy stuff...But NOOOO !!! Instead, she'd suffered the worst shock of her entire life!!!  
  
She'd stood there, desperately searching for Ramen and suddenly, he'd literally appeared out of nowhere! She had been frozen to the spot, she wanted to run away, do something, anything!!! But what had she done? She did the most stupid thing somebody in her position could possibly do: She asked :'What are you doing here?' How idiotic can somebody be???  
  
She'd done EVERYTHING wrong! First mistake: Looking up!  
  
She'd heard a noise and looked up – straight into his eyes! No matter how hard she'd tried, she hadn't been able to pull away from his golden orbs. She didn't know how long they'd been standing there, looking into each other's eyes, but her legs had felt like jelly and her heart had started to pound like an out-of-control hammer plant, and slowly, she'd felt like she would drown in a sea of golden honey.  
  
All of a sudden, an impatient voice had echoed through the room, and Kagome had felt as if she would be punched back into reality through a sheet of glass from one second to an other.  
  
Of course, the silver-haired guy had turned around to look for the voice's owner.  
  
She had remained there a few moments, staring at his suit-covered back. Then, she'd luckily regained her common sense and jumped out of the window. She'd dashed around the corner of the building like a mad chicken, And there she stood now, still out of breath, looking at the falling rain in front of her.  
  
Wrong. It wasn't just falling. It seemed like a solid water wall would fall from the sky.  
  
Kagome was afraid to step out under the gutter. But she had to. What if the boy with the amber eyes would search for her?  
  
She sighed in defeat, "Why me???" and ran off into the darkness.

* * *

Damn Sango. Why did he have to hire such a forgetful secretary??  
  
Inuyasha leaned back in the leather seat of his Mercedes Benz, impatiently tapping his fingers on the wheel.  
  
'Oops!.. Sorry Inuyasha! I've forgotten my brief-case back at the school, would you mind if I quickly go back and get it?' he whined, perfectly imitating his secretary's voice.  
  
Not even waiting for an answer, she'd put up her umbrella, stepped out of the car and stomped off through the rain.  
  
And now, he sat here in his 300.000 Dollar-car, left alone and feeling like a forgotten puppy. To make it even better, the car was parked only a few blocks away from his apartment. Inuyasha was tired, hungry and all he wanted to do was go home. But he couldn't drive off, leaving Sango in the middle of nowhere, could he? She was already gone for fifteen minutes and Inuyasha began to get worried.  
  
By now, the pitter-patter of the raindrops falling on the car roof had grown into an almost regular loud buzzing, which hurt his sensitive ears.  
  
To ease the pain, he brought the window down and tried to make out something behind the veil of rain. No chance.  
  
The hanyou made a face and closed the window. But just before it was entirely shut, a scream tore the night apart. A girl's scream.  
  
Inuyasha panted horrified, "Sango!" Yanking the door open, he made a headlong dive out of the car.

* * *

Her limbs had grown numb with cold. The water on the streets was centimeters deep and she was sure that the temperature had dropped for at least 30 degrees during the last hour.  
  
Freezing and soaked to the bone, Kagome staggered forward, her head bowed. She'd given up running a long time ago – The rain clattered down from the sky with such might, that she already had problems to stay on her feet.  
  
_Tip, tap  
_  
Her head jerked up- She'd heard the sound of feet behind her.  
  
She swiped around, a cold shudder running down her spine, and tore her hands over her head to protect her face. She peered through the threads of drops, but wasn't able to see anything clearly. In the rain, all movements seemed distorted and wrong, all outlines strange and aggressive-  
there it was again_!  
  
Tip, tap  
_  
Suddenly, a figure stepped out under the rain curtain.  
  
Kagome's eyes widened in shock.  
  
The man shot her a greedy, toothless grin "Oh- look what've got here... hello, birdie!"  
  
The girl screamed as loud as she could.  
  
"You can scream as much as you want – nobody will hear you.."  
  
She could actually physically feel how the blood and all the colour left her face. She felt a heavy dizziness take possession of her, and her knees went soft. When he took a step forward, she got pulled back into reality. She turned around and ran. The man only laughed amusedly and chased after her. She could feel him catch up – if she didn't run faster, he would –  
  
She fell flat on her face, hard, swallowed icy water and brought her head up, coughing and painfully gasping for air. At the first moment, she was almost blind, water ran into her eyes and the pain let colourful circles and lightnings explode in front of her sight.  
  
She turned around to face the danger and tried to struggle to her feet, only to get pinned down by a bigger, heavier body.  
  
The man held her to the ground and brought his face close to hers "Got ya." He kneed her in the guts.  
  
Kagome cried in pain and squeezed her eyes shut in disgust as he covered her with his bad breath. She tried to get away, but he was simply to strong. Panting in excitement, he ripped her skirt and her shirt off and touched her breasts with his horny hands.  
  
Silent tears were streaming down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and pushed her head to the side, she didn't want to have to look at him. She felt his hands glide up her thighs and her back, causing her to grow stiff - he fiddled about with her bra and she let go an other desperate cry.  
  
Suddenly, she felt the weight being pulled off her, and she heard a deep, rough voice growl in anger and a noise as if somebody was thrown against a wall. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER, YOU DIRTY BASTARD!!!"  
  
She doubled up with pain, and then everything went black.

* * *

Inuyasha ran like he'd never run before. The rain bit in his face like sharp needles, but he didn't care.  
  
Every time the girl screamed , he felt as if somebody would rip his heart out . He had soon realized that the girl wasn't Sango. He had smelled it-  
he would never forget the scent of that girl. It was the girl he'd seen in the kitchen, just an hour ago,  
and it was probably his fault that she was getting hurt right now-  
he'd practically chased her out of the safe building. He would never be able to forgive himself if something would happen to her.  
  
He turned the corner and there she was- Helplessly lying on the ground, in the middle of the street , a man on her, trying to rape her.  
  
Inuyasha felt his blood boil with hatred.

He dashed forward, grabbed him by his coat and smashed him into a parked car.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER, YOU DIRTY BASTARD!!"

He sprinted right after him, and banged his head against the metal once more, satisfied when he heard his skull break. The man slid down against the car door and fell to the left. Inuyasha kicked him into the side, causing ribs to crack. The hanyou snarled and pulled the unconscious man up by his collar. Disgusted, he quickly searched through his pockets and pulled out his passport with a disparaging gesture.  
  
He dropped the men and hissed through his gritted teeth, "You'll pay for what you did tonight until you die."  
  
He turned his back to the man and walked over to the girl. She lay there, curled up into a ball, and the raindrops hit the surface of the puddles around her with small explosions. Wet strands of her long, black hair stuck to her face and she shivered terribly.  
  
He took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her fragile form, trying not to cause her any additional pain. He slid his arms under her feet and picked her up. A small whimper escaped her lips when he lifted her up, and she snuggled deeper into his chest. His eyes went soft when he looked at her face "Let's go home" ,he stated and started walking.

* * *

A/N: Okay , that was a really looong chapter, but I couldn't bring myself  
to make two chapters out of it... Well, that's all I have to say, except for...  
  
Review,review,eview,review,review,review,review,review,review and review! 


	3. Four spoons of sugar

**A/N**:Yay!Here I am again!  
  
I'm sorry I messed up the formatting last time, I hope I did it right this time.  
  
Thank you for your reviews!!! They really motivate me, you know?

* * *

**Four spoons of sugar  
  
**Inuyasha was still walking half an hour later and about 5 blocks farther. Actually, he should have arrived at his apartment building long ago. But the pouring rain swallowed everything that was farther away than 3 or 4 meters, and to be honest- At the moment, he had no clue where he was.  
  
He looked down at the bundle in his arms. The girl was shivering uncontrollably and her face wasn't pale anymore, it was see-through. She would freeze to death if he wouldn't get her inside soon. He himself was chilled to the bone - he didn't feel his hand or feet anymore, and he could feel his strength vanish with every minute - it already cost him a serious effort of will to not drop the girl. And he was a hanyou – he didn't even want to imagine how the girl felt- she was human and she only wore underwear.  
  
It was his own fault. He should have gone back to the car. But his flat had seemed to be only a stone's throw away...  
  
The city looked as if she would drown in the water which was falling from the sky and the puddles in the gutter had turned into a ragging miniature – torrent.  
  
All he was able to see was a traffic light at the end of the street – wait! Traffic light? If that was the traffic light he hoped it was, then he would be standing right beside the entrance to his building.  
  
Slowly, he turned around- And there it was! The door that led to that warm , cozy place called home!

* * *

Inuyasha slammed the door shut with his foot. Without even turning the light on, he staggered to the bathroom. Inuyasha only shot a cursorily glance at the bathtub – they would freeze to death , before it was even half full – and then decided for the shower. Without much ado, he shifted the girl into the cabin, stepped beside her and turned on both water taps as far as they would go. At the first moment, the water was icy, but it felt warm to him nonetheless , after the cold wetness of the rain, which was still in his clothes. Then it got warm, and after an instant, it got so hot that it hurt. Hastily, he turned the red and blue taps till the water reached a somewhat bearable temperature, and then turned back to the girl.

She was still unconscious, and although she stood under a steaming hot water-jet she shivered terribly and her face had imbibed the colour of ashes. The hot water had dispelled the frostiness from his clothes and the upper two or three millimeters of his skin, but because of some mysterious reason, the heat didn't reach deeper. He huddled out of his clothes (and yes, he still wears his underwear) and tried to snatch as much warmth for himself, without taking away too much from the girl.  
  
When the water started to cool off sensibly, Inuyasha turned off the taps, stepped out off the shower and wrapped a towel around the girl.

She _still _shivered.

He quickly entwined a towel around his hips, pulled the girl to his chest and rubbed her down with the towel.  
  
When he was done, he picked her up bridal stile and carried her to the bedroom. He gently placed her on the bed and tucked the blanket around her. It didn't help. She still shivered. He remembered something his mother had told him once. The only thing that helped in a situation like this was body warmth. Inuyasha sighed, "She's going to kill me tomorrow", crawled under the blanket and wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. He was asleep in the matter of seconds.

* * *

Kagome felt miserable. Every single muscle of her body hurt and behind her forehead bore a dull pain, which just didn't want to go away. In her head were convoluted memories, snippets of a conversation, for the most parts noises. She just couldn't manage to get them in the correct order and attach the proper meaning to them. The only thing she could define, was that it was soft, very soft. She must be lying in her bed. She forced her eyelids open a slit and blinked through her lashes. Everything was white. Relieved, she closed her eyes again to get a bit more sleep. She didn't remember her bed to be that comfy. She snuggled deeper into her warm, muscular pillow.

_Muscular? _

Kagome tore her eyes open. Her pillow wasn't a pillow – it was a chest – to be exact, a manly chest.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
  
she screamed horror-stricken and lashed out at the man.  
  
Poor Inuyasha got jerked out his well-deserved slumber somewhere between hits and "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?????!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
He blinked completely confused and looked up at the freaked out creature bending over him. "Wha-" Then the events of the last night came back to him.  
  
"GET-OUT-OF-MY-BED!!!!"  
  
Okay, now that was enough! His bed was holy!

"First of all, that's MY bed!!" He yelled back angrily, but she didn't seem to listen and instead of an answer, she dealt him a blow in the face.

"Owwww..." That girl knew how to pack quite a punch... Before he was able to say anything, she started throwing things at him.  
  
Inuyasha jumped out of bed when he saw a luster thrown his way.  
  
"WHATS WRONG WITH YOU,WENCH??!!"  
  
She just continued screaming. "PERVERT!!!!!!!!!!!OUT!OUT!OUT!OUT!!!!"  
  
Inuyasha quickly pinpointed that it was a hopeless endeavor to try to talk to her civilized. And that made him really angry. That unappreciative bitch! Infuriated, he yelled back "SO THAT'S ALL THE THANKS I GET FOR SAVING YOUR LIFE!!"  
  
He turned his heels and stomped out of the room. Of course, not without slamming the door.

* * *

Kagome sat on the bed and breathed heavily, while she heard the guy on the other side of the door cursing something. She stared at the door, confused.

_Thanks for saving her live? _

What did he mean with that?? She knew that she had seen that weird guy before, she just couldn't remember where and under which circumstances. She could almost feel how the small wheels in her brain started turning. And then, everything came back to her. Talking to that guy in the school's kitchen, running away, freezing half to death, and nearly being raped.  
  
Oh my god. He _really_ saved her life.  
  
She pulled the sheet tightly around herself and jumped out of jumped out of the bed. Or tried to jump out of it. She _fell _out of it, to be honest.

* * *

Inuyasha sat at the kitchen table and desperately waited for the coffee- machine to bubble - He absolutely needed too strong coffee with four spoons of sugar now. He heard a loud thud coming from the bedroom and looked up. A few moments later, the girl stepped into the kitchen.

She looked at her feet and wrung her hands, which held the sheet that covered her body. She shifted from one foot to the other and tried to look everywhere besides him. Finally, she managed to stutter some words out "Listen,...... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.....I'm sorry." When he didn't say anything, she continued, "Thank you for your help....I owe you something......I'll go then..." She turned around and shuffled to the door like a beaten boxer.  
  
Inuyasha snorted, "Do you really want to go out there in underwear and a sheet? _My _sheet, by the way."  
  
She looked over her shoulder and shot him an estimating glance. Then she asked cautiously, "What do you mean with that?"  
  
"Sit down and drink a coffee. You can stay here till we've found a solution for your .... little problem."  
  
She looked at him undetermined, but then she walked over and sat down on a chair.  
  
"Coffee?" he asked, keeping a straight face.  
  
"Yes please." she whispered, her voice breaking, and then added quickly "With four spoons of sugar, please"  
  
He looked at her, dumbfounded.  
  
"What's wrong? Coffee with a lot of sugar is okay, isn't it?" Of course it was. He always drank his coffee with four spoons of sugar. He shrugged, and went over to the cupboard to get some cups.  
  
Two minutes later, he put a cup of steaming hot coffee down in front of her. She closed her hands around it and mumbled "Thanks."  
  
"For the coffee?"  
  
"For saving my live.... And for the coffee" She laughed insecurely and raised her head to look at him. He was a handsome guy, she had to admit that. Those amber eyes, and his long, white hair, those incredible kawaii doggy- ears ... and he looked incredibly good without his shirt on.... What's up with those thoughts? She blushed and shook her head, as if trying to shake them off.  
  
He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, and then stretched out his hand "No problem...my name is Inuyasha, by the way."  
  
She took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, "Kagome. Nice to meet you"  
  
He sneered at her and retorted, "We've already met before. In the school. Remember?"  
  
"How could I forget that?...But... you were the one who saved me from that man, weren't you?"  
  
"Yeahh..that was me."  
  
Her blush turned into deep purple, and trying to hide that from him, she turned her head to examine her surroundings.  
  
The walls were painted red, and one off them only consisted of window, which gave you a nice view over the wet roofs of the city. The kitchen units were made of stainless-steel and everything was sparkling-clean. Summed up, it was pure, modern, _expensive _good taste.  
  
Kagome gulped and looked at him again and asked curiously, "What where you doing in the school anyway?"  
  
"Business meeting."he replied choppily .  
  
"For which company?"  
  
"Tahiko – Petrol corporation."  
  
"So you work for Tahiko-corporation?" she assured herself with fake interest.  
  
"No. I'm the Vice-president."he answered, and it didn't sound the slightest bit arrogant.  
  
"Oh."  
  
To change the issue, he stood up and asserted, "I think you need new clothes. I'll call my secretary- she will go shopping with you."  
  
"But ... I won't be able to give you the money back for a while, you know that?"she stated with a hint of panic in her voice.  
  
"Keh.I don't care, wench. Just be quiet."he scoffed and tipped a number into his cell phone.

* * *

A/N: **REEEEEEEEEEEEEVIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!!!!!!!!!!! **


	4. Old factories

**A/N: **Hi guys!! Thank you A LOT for your reviews!( I squeaked out of joy when I saw them)  
Here it is, I present proudly : Chapter four of When the rain falls.... I hope you like it. I forgot to mention that at the beginning, so I'll just do it now: I'm sorry for all the mistakes I make (if I do), and I hope they're not too drastic, but English is not my native language.. And by the way, flat is just an other word for apartment.

Now enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter four**

**Old factories**

* * *

****

****

****

Inuyasha heard a quick "Goodbye Inuyasha!" and then the door closed with a small click. Finally, that annoying little girl was gone.  
  
Sango had taken half an hour to arrive, and during that time an oppressive silence had fallen over the scene until his secretary had interrupted it by hauling him over the coals for leaving her in the rain clueless.  
  
Inuyasha had silenced her by smacking his credit card into her hand and saying that the girl would explain everything as soon as they had left. His secretary had repined a bit, but she'd given in after a hard glare from his direction.  
  
He plopped into his cozy armchair and stretched his hands around its armrests. Inuyasha sighed and ran his hand over his face. What was he supposed to do with the whole situation? He looked up and let his eyes slide over the room until they met his jacket. He'd worn it last night and he'd put something into its pocket.

That guy's passport.  
  
He rose and walked over to the jacket. He rummaged through its pockets and pulled the passport out of it with a victorious smirk.  
  
"Payback, asshole" he commented, ambled over to his laptop and switched it on. Inuyasha opened a hidden file on his computer, which wasn't stated in any index, and which to find would have even cost a lot of trouble and effort for a real computer expert. Inuyasha had to enter three passwords to access the file.

It contained programs people would kill for. Alone the possession of them could bring him into jail for five years with ease. Thereby was that, which appeared on his monitor, initially completely harmless. He was now connected to the host system of Tahiko – petrol- corporation, and the screen showed nothing but what every other normal terminal in the Tahiko-building showed.  
  
He reached for the passport and clapped it opened to read the name inside "Moginou Karanu – what a crappy name" he scoffed and tipped the name into the keyboard – now opening some no longer that legal programs.  
  
He didn't find much about Moginou Karanu – except the fact that he didn't exist.  
  
He furrowed his brow and tipped in the id – number after a few seconds.  
  
The data processor would lurk around a few passports, simulate access authorizations, which he didn't have, or intrude through backdoors into strict protected programs, which partly even the programmers didn't know of.

Every single of those programs was illegal. And every single one worked very effective. Inuyasha understood little to precisely nothing of what he did at all, but the hacker-software operated excellent. The processor would need time to go through that tremendous amount of data, maybe an hour, maybe more. So Inuyasha decided to take a nap. He stood up, switched the monitor off, set his alarm clock and went to bed.

* * *

Of course it came just as he had expected it to become: The alarm clock tore him right out of a stage of deep sleep, and he woke up as if he hadn't slept at all, but at the same time already so psyched that it would have been completely futile to turn around and try to steal one or two more hours of sleep away from the day.  
  
Inuyasha shuffled over to the desk, blinked at the monitor out of still half billowed eyes and needed a few moments to remember that he'd switched it of an hour ago. He switched it back on with an abundantly uncoordinated movement and gazed at the letters on the screen for a moment, which refused to make any sense.  
  
Of course it wasn't the computer's fault, but rather the fact that he was simply not really awake yet. Against his habit, he showered ice cold and very long and examined his face afterwards. An ugly blue-reddish bulge began to grow where the wench had punched him. He pulled a face and went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water, got comfortable in his chair and looked at the screen once more.  
  
"Ah, very interesting – your real name isn't Moginou Karanu..." he mumbled to himself as his fingers glided faster over the keyboard. "Hello, Mr..."

Inuyasha went pale and stiff as an ice block and the glass fell out off his shaking hand, shattering to pieces on the ground. "Can't be...." He aspirated. Inuyasha stared at the screen for a solid minute, his mind processing what he had just read.  
  
The hanyou flounced out of the apartment, grabbing his mobile phone on the way.  
  
"SHIT!!!!!!!"

* * *

Sango and Kagome sat in a small bistro at the roadside, each drinking a Latte Macchiatto, and ten shopping bags were piled up on the chair next to Kagome. Kagome shot a solicitous glance at them and asked for the which seemed millionth time, with a disbelieving frown,  
  
"Do you really think Inuyasha won't mind that I bought that much...? I just couldn't help it – I'm addicted to shopping....."  
  
Sango gave her an insightfully smile and padded her hand with a motherly gesture,  
  
"Don't worry, Kagome. I'm sure Inuyasha won't mind. He has money to burn!"  
  
"You think so?" she replied joyfully, but then the happy smile got wiped off her face, and got replaced by a sort of regretful one, "Probably you're right. I mean, he'll be glad to get rid of me. I think he wasn't comfortable with me beeing in his apartment."  
  
"Yeah, that's true..."  
  
Kagome's head jerked up in surprise and Sango eyed her out of the corner of her eye.  
  
That comment had seemed to hurt her. She was such an innocent girl, and the idea of Inuyasha being that dry seemed to be inconvenient for her. Sango had taken an immediate liking to the girl, and she hadn't meant to upset her, but it was the best way to be honest from the beginning. Inuyasha wasn't a friendly person, more rude, stubborn and quite blasé when it came to other's people business.Sango snorted and emptied her cup with a last big gulp, "Shall we go then?"  
  
"Yep." Kagome retorted and it still sounded a bit disappointed. The girl snapped her bags with an accomplished grip and clattered out of the café on her brand-new high-heels. Sango put the money on the table and followed her, putting her umbrella up.

* * *

The girls got into Sango's car, a pink Fiat Uno, and Sango reversed the key. She drove off so fast, that the water spattered out under the wheels of the car. They drove back in the direction they had come from; Sango switched the windscreen wiper faster, without the sight getting considerably better, and accelerated far beyond the permitted speed-limit.  
  
Kagome clung to her seat and squeezed out a fearful, "Would you drive a _bit _slower, please?"  
  
The only thing she got was a casual "Why?"  
  
_Great_. She was trapped in a pink Fiat Uno with a freaked out woman. Her life couldn't get any better, could it?  
  
Suddenly Sango's cell phone rung, and she pulled it out of her purse, taking her hands from the wheel.  
  
"Sango, watch out!!", Kagome squeaked horrified.  
  
Sango just retorted calmly, "Calm down Kags", opened the deck of her phone, clamped it between her shoulder and her ear and put her hands back where they belonged.  
  
"Yes?.......oh _hi Inuyasha_." Sango said disappointedly and gave her a meaningful look.  
  
Kagome only heard one side of the conversation, but she picked up her ears and listened intently to every word.  
  
"Yeah, she's perfectly fine – why do you ask?", Sango shot her an other, this time inquiring glance.  
  
Her voice suddenly sounded anxious when she asked, "What happened?......At the moment, we're on Daiichi Keihin street .....okay, bye."; Sango hung up and fixed her eyes back on the road in front of them.  
  
Kagome pulled up an eyebrow and asked curiously, "What did he want?"  
  
The other girl seemed nervous, but she just shrugged and stated, "I don't know....he sounded kind of strange,...almost worried, I would say....and he told me to stop and wait for him."

....

Sango turned into an empty alley and parked the car. "I wonder what-" Something hit the rear end of he car with such might, that both of them got flung ahead into their seatbelts.

Glass shattered.

Sango screamed out of fear and surprise; Kagome instinctively pulled up her arms to absorb the impact.

There was no impact – the safety belts of the small cart worked reliably, but she got thrown far enough ahead to bruise her wrists. She panted and for a moment, she only saw varicoloured light points, but she could hear that the vehicular started to turn on its own axis, and now a different noise accrued – like a fist smashed into an empty cardboard box.  
  
Sango screamed something she didn't understand, and then she opened her eyes. The car grinded to a halt, and the second the spook had lasted, was over.

"Everything......alright?" Kagome mumbled dazed. She tried not to grimace with pain and ignore the dragging pain in her wrists as good as possible, and moved her fingers carefully. At least her wrists weren't broken. Although they felt like they were.  
  
"Everything alright?" Sango stared at her for two solid seconds, as if she had to seriously think about the meaning of that question, but then she exploded, without warning, but therefore so much the worse.  
  
"Everything alright?!" she brawled. "Damn! Nothing is alright!!! That blithering idiot drove into my car!! I must be dreaming! That guy could have killed us!!"

She pulled completely useless at her seatbelt, finally got the glorious idea to exert the clutch, pushed the door open with an angry gesture, and continued cursing outside in the rain.  
  
Kagome detached her safety belt and stepped out of the car, and sucked her breath in with shock as the cold rain hit her face.  
  
The first thing that attracted her attention was the darkness. They where situated in a deserted area, where only darkness and falling rain seemed to exist. The street consisted of crude bowldering, most of the buildings were unenlightened and there were no streetlights. An industrial zone, she thought grumpily. One of those, where business had been dull for a long time, so that nobody worked in the evenings.

The perfect place for a car crash.

"Now look at that bullshit!", Sango's voice penetrated into her ear. "I don't believe it!!"  
  
Kagome turned around horrent and blinked through the rain, which seemed to get harder with every minute. The street behind them was as the dark as in front of them, but indeed not as empty. In fifteen or twenty metres distance, a single headlight silvered the rain. The second headlight must have been broken during the crash. The engine was still running, but the driver didn't step out of the vehicle.  
  
"Damn!" Sango yelled, "I don't have any insurance!" Kagome was by her side with two quick steps. The rear end of the Fiat was indeed a despicable sight. The plastic-bumper had been shattered like an eggshell, and the metal above it was so heavily impressed, that she could have put both her fists into the dent. Both backlights were broken, but strangely, the illumination of the licence plate was still intact. A dark liquid dripped out of car and mixed with the rainwater, but it didn't smell like gasoline.  
  
"Brake fluid", she pointed out. "Or oil, but I don't think that we can still use this car.",  
  
"That bastard!" Sango blustered, "Why the hell did he drive into us??!!!"  
  
"Maybe you were too slow." Kagome realised herself, that that hadn't been outstanding funny.  
  
Actually only to avoid Sango's angrily glistening eyes, she turned around and looked back at the other car. It still stood unchanged in the same place. Kagome could hear the windscreen wipers running, but nothing else moved. "I wonder why he doesn't get out,"she murmured.  
  
"Maybe he's afraid that I rip one of his eyes out", Sango said gloomily. "Or he wants to lop off! That's all I needed!  
  
"Or he's hurt." Kagome said, now slightly worried.  
  
"I'll better walk over and check," Sango said, still pissed. "Stay here!"  
  
Kagome leaned against the car and watched Sango intently.  
  
She saw her walking over to the car, her shoulders slightly downcast, and bending down to the window. She asked," Is everything okay? Are you hurt?"  
  
Instead of an answer, the car backed up about five meters. "_Hey_!", Sango yelled, now infuriated "What's wrong with you! It's no good to lop off! I've got your number!!"  
  
The car backed up again.  
  
"You wanna play, huh?!!! Fine with me!!!" Sango shouted and ran after the vehicle.

.......

Somewhere in her head, Kagome heard a warning bell shrill. " Sango – Stop it!!!" she shouted and took a few steps towards the other car.

The car was big and its outlines square-edged, and she could spot the chromed bumpers. A Jeep or a Landover, some kind of off Offroader, that was for sure. No wonder that the Fiat looked like an elephant had stepped on it.  
  
The engine of the car howled, and it hurtled towards Sango. "Sango!", Kagome screamed, her voice shrill, nearly cracking. Sango wouldn't have stood a chance if the driver would have had the serious intent to run her over.

But he rushed right past and headed towards his real goal – _Kagome_. Her eyes widened in realisation, but it was already too late.  
  
Kagome saw the car hurtling towards her, but she couldn't move. It seemed as if her limbs had turned into iron. Suddenly, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and her surroundings turned into a colourful whirl, and all noises were dull and far away. She heard a familiar voice scream her name, but she wasn't able to react. This was it. She would die. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself for the impact. But it never came.

Instead, she got pulled into a pair of strong arms and ripped out of that unreal situation. She felt her body hit the cobbled pavement and all the air got pressed out of her lungs as a heavier body landed on top of hers. She didn't sense the pain as displeasing – on the contrary – it pulled her back into reality.  
  
She felt the weight fade away, and she took a deep, greedy breath to fill her lungs again. Kagome didn't dare to open her eyes, she just remained pressed to the wet ground and panted, until a deep, rough voice interrupted her with anxiety "Are you okay?"

Wait – she knew that voice! Kagome opened her eyes and looked straight into a pair of golden ones.  
  
"Inuyasha?" she whispered warily.  
  
"Whom else did you expect?" he scoffed and pulled her up with one arm.  
  
"But – how..." Kagome looked over to the Fiat – or what had once been the Fiat – and gulped.  
  
The impact had crunched the car like an empty tin. It had been downright folded like a piece of paper – little flames flickered out under the wreck. There was nothing left of the car that could have been squashed, but the maniac behind the wheel of the other car seemed dead set on integrating the Fiat Uno into the mulecularstructure of the wall, for he still accelerated.  
  
Kagome continued to look bewildered at the sad remains of the car, her mouth snapping closed and open again without letting a single noise escape.  
  
"Damn, what are you waiting for? Do you _want _him to kill you?" Inuyasha's voice was a faint, agitated whisper and came from somewhere out of the darkness. She looked for him, but wasn't able to make him out. "Come here!" he fizzed, "The door on your right side. Quick!" Kagome didn't see a door, just a rectangular shadow. Her knees were still so tottery, that she had to shore up against the wall to walk the few steps over there. When she'd almost reached her goal, a sinewy hand reached out of the darkness and dragged her ungentle towards its owner.  
  
Inuyasha stemmed against the door with his shoulder, which was still a part of the darkness for Kagome. Finally, it opened with a slow, unwillingly creak.

The room on the other side of the door was a bit brighter than the street. Not bright enough to really make out details, but anyway sufficient enough to give her a rough image of her surroundings. It was an old factory, where most likely nobody had worked since years.  
  
The heavy metal door shut with a dull noise. Kagome could hear how Inuyasha's hands glided over the rusty metal, then a relieved "Very well then!" and a heavy, metallic click.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"A bar. That should hold them up for a while."  
  
"Hold them up? Who are "_they_"? Tell me what's going on – _immediately_!" she demanded.  
  
"I don't think that's the right moment for..."  
  
She cut him off and hissed dangerously," I decide when the right moment is – and that's _now_!"  
  
"Wench, that's a pretty long story – I don't think that we have the necessary time at the moment!" he snarled at her.  
  
Kagome pointed insinuatingly at the bar and stated, "We _have _time - They'd need a cannon to get through there!"  
  
"Or a car with an integrated battering ram and 200 HP.", Inuyasha added.

He could see her frown contemplatively. "You're right", she said. "Let's get out of here."

She wanted to start walking, but Inuyasha quickly stretched out his arm and stopped her. "Not so fast", he said. "Do you want to break your neck? -You can't see anything inside here."  
  
"And you can, huh?" she snapped.  
  
"Yeah, I can. I'm a hanyou – forgotten?!"  
  
"Oh. Sorry.", she whispered excusatory.  
  
"Doesn't matter. Take my hand, I'll lead you." He said in a forgiving tone and grabbed her hand. "By the way, you're the first to forget that I'm a hanyou."  
  
Next to them, a small iron staircase led upwards. On its upper end, there was some kind of gallery, which vanished into darkness in both directions.  
  
"Up there!", he ordered.  
  
"Aye, aye, captain." Kagome answered tauntingly. Inuyasha asked himself if she really took it that easy or if that was just her way to deal with it – she'd just escaped from a pretty nasty death after all.  
  
His estimation had been right – the gallery met a separate floor, where most likely once had been the offices.  
  
"Luck or knowledge?" Kagome asked.  
  
"Somehow, all of these old factories are the same", Inuyasha said. After two seconds he added: "Luck. But we can hide here."  
  
"_Hide_? The strong, almighty Inuyasha wants to _hide_?"  
  
He ignored her comment and continued walking. They reached a big room, from where you had an excellent view over the hall. The room was empty except for a single chair and the dust of at least two centuries. Although Inuyasha only hesitated for a moment, before he entered the room. "You call that a hideout?" Kagome asked  
  
"Stop complaining, wench! At any rate, from here, we're going to see them before they see us!"  
  
"You really think that they're after us?" Kagome sounded more irritated than frightened. "Where is Sango, by the way?" she added, as if she was afraid of an answer.  
  
"Don't worry, she's safe. Stay here. I'll look for a window."Inuyasha left the office again, looked around undetermined for a moment, and then stepped into a narrow corridor, which was glazed on both sides. Inuyasha approached to the window, which was so heavily incrusted with dirt, that he had to rub for almost a minute to get a little peephole. His efforts got rewarded. He couldn't only see the street, but the Jeep too. The heavy cart was neatly parked about five meters away from the wrecked Fiat, with switched off lights and windscreen wipers.

Inuyasha looked at the Jeep with growing concern. Its windows were obscured, but he was sure that the car was empty. Its occupants had gotten out of the car, and it didn't need much imagination to figure out what they were looking for.  
  
It was time to get back to the girl. She was probably about to die from fear, even though she would never admit it. He hurried back and found a very nervous Kagome.

"Everything alright?", she asked.  
  
"Yes", Inuyasha answered, but he was uneasy about it. He could sense that something was wrong. "But let's get out of here nonetheless."  
  
The girl seemed relieved. "Good idea.", she asserted. "Don't ask why, but something is out of place here."  
  
"Why? It's cosy, isn't it?"  
  
The girl chuckled.

A red glowworm shooed over the window and bounced on her shoulder.

Inuyasha lost valuable seconds by standing there and staring at the red laserpoint. It began to ramble up her neck with shaky movements, caressed her cheek for a short moment, circumvented her eye, so not to blind her, and made its remorseless way to her forehead.  
  
Inuyasha reacted without thinking. He didn't waste any time for a warning scream, for the lethal bullet would probably reach her sooner than the sound, but threw himself in front of her. During the fraction of a second his muscles needed to perform that move, a nasty little voice in his head began to scream and ask if he'd lost his mind. He was risking his life for a girl he'd just met the day before.  
  
Kagome didn't move, and if the attacker pulled the trigger at the same moment, then there was a good chance that the bullet hit him. Then he finally ripped Kagome off her feet and buried her underneath him.

Something banged;

In the window Kagome had just looked through a moment ago, a tiny hole with milky edges appeared, and splinters of wood and lime rained down on them from the ceiling.

"Have you gone insane?!" Kagome got her speech back. "You're such a PERVERT! That's neither the right place nor the right time to do something like that!"

She tried, without much success, to shove his weight off her. Inuyasha rolled off her and pointed wordlessly at the whole in the window. Kagome blinked. "What....."  
  
The red glowworm was back again and hurried hectically trough the room.

"Oh.", Kagome remarked, "Does that mean...?"

"Yeah, that's what it means" Inuyasha snarled.

"If so, than it would probably be a good idea to run now." Kagome mumbled. Her voice sounded weirdly flat, as if it cost her a lot of effort to formulate the words. Inuyasha stemmed himself up with his arms and knees and helped the girl. He pointed at the window. Kagome furrowed her brows and looked at him enquiringly. He grabbed her hand and started running towards the window.  
  
"Hey!!!", the girl protested. "Shut up!" he whispered. "Or do you _want _them to see us?!" Without an other word, he pulled her closer and jumped through the window. Glass shattered, and he heard the girl scream.  
  
The landed on the ground, saved.

* * *

Kagome brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face and looked demandingly at her opponent.  
  
They were in a bedraggled taproom, and the air was so smoky that you were hardly able to see anything.  
  
Inuyasha looked around agitated, before he answered, "Okay, listen. That guy..... which tried to... hurt you last night wasn't just some ordinary guy."  
  
Kagome lifted an eyebrow.  
  
"His name is Naraku, and he's the boss of Shikon insurances."  
  
"That means.....?" Kagome waved one hand, urging him to continue.  
  
"Me and my....company already had problems with him. Shikon insurances isn't just a normal business establishment. It's connected to the underground and therefore, Naraku is a very powerful man. He has to protect his reputation and he won't let the matter rest that he didn't get what he wanted from _you_ and that _I _beat him senseless. And he certainly won't leave it at that one attempt to kill us."Kagome swallowed, "This sounds like a bad action movie. You're kidding me, right?"  
  
"I wish I was.", he responded dryly.  
  
There was a long silence, till she said, "So......what are we supposed to do now?""Do you have any relatives you can ask for help?" She shook her head, "None."  
  
Inuyasha sighed, "Then I suggest you stay with me till this is over. I mean, I can't let you run around unprotected....and it's kind of my fault too..."  
  
"Now what does that mean?", she hissed.  
  
"Uhh..." the hanyou winced, "you know, Naraku loathes me with all his heart... because of some stupid incident with a girl..."  
  
The girl on the other side of the table fumed, "Great! Just great! Thanks a lot!"  
  
"What!?" he snapped. "Would you rather have liked to be raped?!"  
  
The girl flinched, but then she bend forwards and poked a finger into his chest. "Maybe that would have been better! Since I met you, you only caused me trouble, you arrogant, rude jerk!"  
  
"Now wait!", he yelled and pushed her back into her chair, "_You _only caused me trouble since I met you!! I saved your life, remember? _Three times! _You should be a bit more grateful, bitch!"  
  
She stiffened, eyed him disparagingly and hissed "Asshole." Then she plastered a fake smile on her face and whispered high-pitched, "Shall we go then, honey?"She swiped out of the tavern, leaving an infuriated Inuyasha behind.

* * *

A/N: _The time has come_............................ to push the review button and tell me what you think! 


	5. The knight in shining armor

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update!!! I hope some of my readers are still out there who don't hate me yet.  
  
Like I said, I'm really, really sorry, but there were a few problems in my life I had to fix.(short: somebody took my dreams, smashed them to the ground and spat on them). But now, everything's fine again and I have more spare time than ever (thank god for holidays.)  
  
Thanks to all my reviewers for their motivation! demon-lulu: I'm workin' on it! But it's not as easy as it sounds...but I promise, it's on its way! sara: You're right, it's a bit confusing, but I will clear everything up, step by step ( to be honest, I haven't completely figured out the plot for myself) Kyokohigurashi: I kind of fancy the thought of adding Kikyo to the story, but if I do so, she will not have or wouldn't have ever had any kind of romantic relation to Inuyasha, that's for sure. Inuchick06: Thanks for reviewing despite the fact that I hadn't updated for so long, and thanks for finally motivating me to get my lazy butt off the couch and write again.  
  
Have fun:

* * *

**Chapter five  
  
Knight in shining armor**

* * *

„ You know, you should be kissing my feet in gratitude!", Inuyasha stated, completely positive about being the most charitable person in the world, "I mean, that's for sure the most luxurious shelter for a derelict that I've ever seen!" he snickered and closed the door.  
  
Unfortunately, while doing so, he turned his back to Kagome. One word: _stupid_  
  
When he turned around again, a splash of cold, sticky liquid hit him straight in the face and ran down his suit. "I am NOT a derelict!" "Wha-"he stuttered and averted his gaze from his ruined outfit to look up at the girl in front of him. All he was able to see was the face of a pissed off Kagome that filled his whole field of vision, and he was sure that there was fume welling out of her nose when she hissed dangerously,  
  
"How dare you... _You_ were the one who caused me all that trouble after all! You should be thankful that I'm giving you the chance to make good the damage. But no, instead you're standing here and perceive yourself as a knight-in- shining-armour, just because you threw me out of the frying pan into the fire, you jerk!" She stepped back a bit, crossed her arms and blurted out a defiantly "Ts!".  
  
Kagome eyed him out of the corner of her eye. She gulped. His eyes were covered by his white bangs, but she could see his brows twitching. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to pour the champaign over him...  
  
A low growl emitted from his throat and he fizzed, "What.. was that?"  
  
Kagome's hands started to tremble. "What do you mean?"  
  
He just pointed down at his drenched clothes.  
  
"Uhh..... that...um...champaign?" she suggested carefully and took a few steps back to get a safety-distance between them.  
  
"Champaign?" he looked up at her with angrily glistening eyes, and added, "You gonna pay for that, wench! – and I mean that ambiguous! "  
  
Kagome squealed. And jumped five meters away from him. "You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?" she said with a dripping-of-slime smile and put up her best puppy-eyes.  
  
"Who said I was gonna hurt you?" he smirked evilly and slowly, but surely approached her.  
  
Kagome tried to giggle innocently, but she failed miserably – she sounded like a chicken that was just being strangled. She scanned the hallway, desperately looking for an escape route... and there it was : the bathroom! "You know what Inuyasha; I think I'm gonna take a shower!" and with that, she slipped into the bathroom and locked the door. Kagome sighed relieved and slid to the floor. From outside she could hear muffled screaming, "Oh no, you don't" and something like "champaign all over" and "get out"

* * *

A nerve over his left eye started twitching. He could feel it.  
  
It was all her fault. And now that stupid wench blocked his bathroom. Inuyasha looked down at his clothes and tried to unwrinkle the wet fabric with his hands. As if it would make any difference.  
  
His cell phone rung. Inuyasha sighed annoyed and slid his hand into his damp pocket to pull it out. He really had to abolish that thing or he'd be a nervous wreck in the end. He clapped the deck open, "Yeah?", Inuyasha rolled his eyes "Sesshoumaru, what do you want?"

* * *

Inuyasha impatiently tapped with one of his feet, a white towel neatly folded over his right arm. He demonstratively looked down at his watch. Another thirty seconds had passed. He rose his left hand and hammered at the door "Your time is up!!! Get out already!"  
  
Instead of an answer, the door flew open, accompanied by a wave of steam. 

A clean Kagome stepped out into the damp cloud . Her cheeks were tinted pink and a relaxed smile lingered on her lips. Her delicate hands firmly enclosed a towel that was rapped around her body, showing off her long legs. This remembered Inuyasha of when she had stumbled out of his bedroom, only covered by a sheet, with dark circles around her eyes and messy hair. He could only stare and admire her metamorphosis. It was incredible what a bit of water could achieve.

She looked completely different. The dark rings were almost gone; her hair shone like the bronze cupola of a church in the afternoon sun, and her skin looked soft as a just-picked peach. But what disturbed him the most was her scent. It had already been intense before, but now, after all the dirt and exertions off the current events had been washed off, it was breath-taking. He couldn't tell what it smelt like, it was more like a feeling than a smell. It felt wonderful, that was for sure. It slowly sneaked up his nose, and obscured his senses with its sweet aroma. Inuyasha shook his head to get rid of the strange sensation and fixed his eyes back on the girl, and he was more than a bit confused. How cruel it was of god to present such an unfriendly person with such an intoxicating scent. The girl nestled her smooth legs to one another and said, with a slight blush appearing on her face,  
  
"Umm... Inuyasha, I know that's kind of annoying, but, you know, I don't have any clothes... again.... They got 'destroyed' during that little....'accident'."  
  
Inuyasha could feel a cold shudder running down his spine as a dark suspicion formed in his mind.

* * *

"Shut up!" Kagome stared at Inuyasha, lust to kill in her eyes.  
  
The hanyou rolled on the floor laughing and pointed meaningfully at her 'outfit'. Between his fits of laughter, he was able to babble "You...look like...you...!" or something like that.  
  
Kagome wore one of Inuyasha's ugliest T-shirts (most likely the most ugly and disgusting one), with two darts on it. The first one pointed upwards, and underneath was written "THE MAN". Not that bad. The other dart was the real problem. It pointed downwards and said "THE LEGEND". And now, picture that combined with XXL- Boxershorts with "fuck me" written on them and _black highheels.  
_  
Finally, Inuyasha managed to blurt out a full sentence," You look like a crossing between John Travolta in Pulp Fiction and a pregnant guzzler!- on highheels!!"  
  
Inuyasha held his stomach and slowly got up, still laughing like a maniac.  
  
"These are your clothes, you know!" Kagome countered, "why did you even buy them?!"  
  
"For moments like that!" Inuyasha scoffed and broke out into a new fit of laughter.  
  
"I can't believe that you force me to wear that!" If looks could kill, Inuyasha would already be pushing up daisies.  
  
"It's your own fault! You said you would do anything if I go shopping with you!"

* * *

The rain had stopped and the autumn revealed its colourful beauty. It had become remarkably warmer and the inhabitants of the city had abandoned their umbrellas. Yellow and red leaves surfed on the slight breeze that tousled the black her of a girl and the white ones of her companion, mingling their colours. Kagome pranced down the street, an evil smile playing around her lips. Time for payback. She ignored the strange look people gave her and the absolutely-not-funny- and-boundless-brainless-pickup lines that every second idiot shouted after her. Inuyasha still had a gleeful smile plastered on his face. But, his joy wouldn't last long...Kagome rubbed her hands in anticipation and grinned to herself.  
  
She turned into a long boulevard, that was jam-packed with shops. Of course she had a goal. Kagome headed for a specific boutique, that was situated in the middle of the street. Next to the entrance, there stood a page with a black tailcoat, who examined her with a derogatory look. Over the glass door, there was a sign which said in big, fat letters: ROBERTO CAVALLI.  
  
Inuyasha's grin froze in an instant. "Are you serious? I cant go inside there with you...especially not like that! These people know me!"  
  
Satisfied, Kagome grinned and said, "Yeah...I'm dead serious". And with that, she stalked up the steps and flung the door open.  
  
Kagome let her eyes slide over all the amazing, overly expensive and just gorgeous dresses, pants, coats, skirts...... She clapped her hands in excitement and squeaked cheerily.  
  
The shop assistant approached her carefully, and definitely was on her guard. As if to check the air around Kagome, she craned her nose in the air and sniffled. Of course Kagome didn't notice any of that – she was off to la-la-land. 

The vendor knit her brows and seemed to be trying to figure out if Kagome was rich enough to be in this shop. Taking her clothes into account, she arrived at the conclusion that she certainly wasn't. Just when she rose her arm to tap her on the shoulder, Inuyasha stepped in.  
  
Her hand snapped back as if she had burned herself. Hastily, the salesgirl stumbled a few steps backwards. Speechless, she watched as Inuyasha Tahiko, the goddam rich Inuyasha Tahiko, walked over to that candidate for the first place on this year's worst-dressed list and asked her if she had already found something.

.

.

.

"Already found something?" he asked, but there was no response.- Not that he had expected one. One look at Kagome's face and you knew that she was in another world at the moment. Shopping-heaven or something near it. Her eyes shone with that cloud-seven happiness, that only clothes could awaken in women. She surveyed the offerings. Fast, but exact. Not a single detail slipped through her inborn nice- clothes-detector-net.

* * *

Three hours, seven bags and five shops later, an exhausted and grumpy Inuyasha and a beaming Kagome stepped out of a Mui Mui- store. The T-shirt and the boxers had been accurately tucked into one of the bags, and Kagome presented herself in a new outfit.  
  
"You look like a wandering roadside billboard" Inuyasha scoffed, but even that comment wasn't able to destroy her annoyingly unflawed happiness.  
  
Inuyasha sighed and burrowed his hands into his pockets. Kagome turned to him, the bright smile never leaving her face. "Did you say something?"  
  
"No" Inuyasha lied. "But...don't you get a cramp or something like that?" he added and nodded towards her cheeks. "I mean, you've been smiling for..." Inuyasha looked down at his wristwatch "Three hours and 21 minutes."  
  
She answered with a smile.  
  
"Ok, ok I get it..." he mumbled. "Listen wench, I've got a meeting at eight thirty, and I don't have time to drive you home. But I'll leave you with a friend of mine."  
  
"Sango?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"No" An insidious smirk spread on his face. "But I'm sure you'll have a great time with him too."

* * *

"Sure, you don't have to worry – he's _the _perfect gentlemen!" Kagome mumbled to herself, mocking Inuyasha.  
  
She sat on an ebony desk, that looked as if it had just emanated from an old English movie.  
  
The person that accompanied her, on the other hand, looked like he'd just stepped out of a porn film with the title 'perverted priest'.  
  
Kagome had her hands chastely folded over her crossed legs, just for the limited purpose to protect her panty from the lascivious looks of a certain pseudo-monk.  
  
"So you're a _monk_, huh?" Kagome send him a disbelieving glance.  
  
Since Miroku had 'greeted' her, there was a safety distance of ten feet between them. Kagome had already been suspicious when Inuyasha led her into the room with that spiteful sneer,  
but nothing could have prepared her for that.  
  
Her first impression of Miroku had been a good one. But first impressions are often proofed to be wrong. He had seemed to be a handsome, intelligent young men with manners. And on top of everything, nice. He had immediately greeted her with a smile. Okay, it had been more like a leer, but Kagome had thought that there was nothing to it. 

_Very naïve_.

About one and a half second after their amicable handshake, she had felt his hand rubbing her butt.

.

.

.

"Well, hat's only partly true. But yes, most of the time I'm sort of a monk." He shot her an almost blinding white grin and added with a wink, "But I don't live abstinent, so don't be afraid to make the first move."  
  
Kagome wrinkled her nose disgustedly. Inuyasha would live to rue that.

* * *

Inuyasha skid nervously back and fourth on his chair. "Sesshoumaru, I don't know who told you that.."  
  
His half brother rose his hand to shut him up. " Inuyasha, stop denying it. I know that you intercommunicate with Naraku...again. I've got a very ominous call today, you know."  
  
"I wouldn't call it 'intercommunicating'..." Inuyasha interposed, with a slightly amused undertone.  
  
"That's not funny." Sesshoumaru said calmly "Naraku already caused us enough trouble in the past! I suppose you still remember , don't you?!"  
  
Inuyasha gnashed his teeth. "Of course I do. After all, it was the biggest damage event our insurance company ever settled. And I don't even want to remember how much we had to pay our legal department..."  
  
"... and it caused us financial problems for years." Sesshoumaru continued. "Do you really want that to happen again?!"  
  
This time, Inuyasha didn't reply immediately, but exchanged a long look with his half-brother. Then, he continued, "It's not like I asked for it to happen. And there's not much I can do about it. Sorry to disappoint you."  
  
Sesshoumaru shrugged and rose from his seat. He walked over to the window and let his eyes glide over the busy city , "Well, it's not _my _problem anyway... you brought it onto you, so you have to erode it."  
  
"So why did you ask me to come then?" Inuyasha asked him point-blank.  
  
"Because you will make it my problem!" Sesshoumaru swiped around, but stayed completely calm, "If I don't do anything about it. And you know we can't afford an incident like that again."  
  
Inuyasha sighed in defeat. "Okay Fluffy," he began and earned a very dirty look from Sesshoumaru for using that nickname, "what do you suggest ?"  
  
"Me? You are the one who's got to come up with a solution" Sesshoumaru laughed a sardonic laugh, "but, you are right, I already thought something up."  
  
Inuyasha lifted one eyebrow." And what would that be..?"  
  
Sesshoumaru turned around again and pleached his hands behind his back. "We have to destroy him before he destroys us. And since we can't inflict damage on him directly, we have to do it inconspicuous."  
  
"What do you mean by inconspicuous?" Inuyasha asked.  
  
"Haven't you figured out yet?" Sesshoumaru stalked back to the desk and sat back down on his 'throne' "I want you to destroy his 'company' from the inside"  
  
Inuyasha threw him a killing glance "Keh. You're joking, right?"  
  
"I assure you that I never felt less like joking than right now." he replied straight-faced.  
  
"Feh!" Inuyasha laughed snidely, "You know that's impossible. How should I do that, if I may ask. Naraku knows my face, you know!"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at him penetratingly "Who said that he is going to see you?" he said dryly. "If I remember correctly, none of his ... employees has ever seen your face." He crossed his legs and leaned back into the leather cushioning of his chair. "I can already visualise it – Inuyasha, the labourer. Suits you, really."  
  
"Keh."  
  
"By the way, what happened to your face?"  
  
Inuyasha instinctively rose his hand to his face. His cheek was swollen, and the skin under his eye was hot and tautened. "I met a girl last night."  
  
"She didn't seem to be overzealous" Sesshoumaru said grimly and handed him a dispatch case. He cleared his throat briefly and formally, "That's all the information you need. Call me when you made progress."

.

* * *

.

Kagome already waited for him when he left the office. "Why aren't you with Miroku?"  
  
She glared at him. "As if you wouldn't know that. I decided to leave after he groped me for the seventh time and asked me to bear his child."  
  
Inuyasha smirked at her, "Serves you right, wench. Anyway, what do you think of dinner? I have to talk to you."  
  
"Hey! You can't drop the subject just like that!" she slapped his arm playfully "but, on the other hand...I'm pretty darn hungry." Kagome rubbed her grumbling belly.  
  
.

.

.

It was already dark. Heavy, bellied clouds, that were nearly black and hung so low, that it seemed as if they almost touched the tops of the highest buildings, filled the sky. Inuyasha put up the collar of his jacket and tucked his hands into the pockets. He'd chosen a small Italian restaurant which was just a around the corner.  
  
They entered the restaurant and were greeted by a smiling, chubby middle- aged woman with rosy cheeks and a heart-shaped face. She led them to a corner table and handed them their menus.  
  
Inuyasha ordered Ramen (what else) and Kagome chose Gnocchi. When the waitress had left, Kagome clapped her hands to get Inuyasha's attention, "You said you had to talk to me - so I guess it's explanation- time, isn't it?"  
  
"Keh" Inuyasha took a look around to check if somebody was listening and leaned forward. "I just talked to my brother.."  
  
"I know that.", Kagome snapped up.  
  
"Just shut up and listen, okay?" Inuyasha demanded "and he informed me that he knows about my..." he paused and corrected himself, "..our problem with Naraku. It seems he got a nice little call today... anyway, now I have to take the can for your mistakes!"  
  
"Eh? Now it's all my fault, hm? Kagome nagged "a few hours ago, you told me personally that Naraku only 'overreacted' like this 'cause you are not on good terms with him! Don't give me that shit!"  
  
"Who cares? I'm the one who has got to get his hands dirty on the long run! So don't worry!" he pulled up the corner of his mouth in a derogatory way.  
  
Kagome threw her hands in the air and hissed, "Oh! Sorry Mr. I-have-to-do-everything-on-my-own! I will help you, okay? It's my fault too. Satisfied?"  
  
"You don't even know what I have to do!"  
  
"Who cares? I'll have to stay by your side anyway, since I don't have anywhere to go! Besides, it can't be that horrible!"  
  
"There's no way you will help me! I have to do that on my own!" he turned his head away from her and sulked.  
  
"Inuyasha! Look at me!" Kagome demanded, but it was no use. "Ok, fine... I'm going to help you, end of the discussion." She turned her head in the opposite direction and tapped her fingers on her arm. At least, until Inuyasha grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. Their faces were more than close, and her breath caught in her throat when his nose tip tickled her cheek. His voice escaped as an agitated whisper, which was more a suppressed roar, "Kagome, you have no idea what you're talking yourself into!" Had he really just said her name? Before she could continue that thought, Inuyasha disturbed her by squeezing her hand tighter, "What I'm going to do is too dangerous for you." Kagome looked up and locked his eyes with hers, searching them for an explanation. What he said next was brusque, but his eyes went soft when he hissed, "I didn't scrape you of that street yesterday to have you being smashed down there again." When she didn't reply anything for a solid minute, Inuyasha suddenly became aware of how close they were, and a blush crept up his face. He shook off her hand and backed off as if she was a poisonous snake.  
  
Kagome's face was red like a seasoned cherry when she said, "I'm going to help you."  
  
"No way."

.

* * *

.

Inuyasha and Kagome sat at his kitchen table, which was covered by dozens of white, single-spaced sheets, photocopies of newspaper articles, photos and countless lists and statistical tables. Sesshoumaru had promised Inuyasha all the information he would need, and it seemed as if he had kept his word. It was loads of information. Definitely too much information.  
  
When Inuyasha had opened the folder, the first thing he had found was a handwritten note by Sesshoumaru_,  
  
Inuyasha,  
As you already know, I checked up on Naraku's  
  
businesses today and I found out that there are some job  
offers in one of his establishments, a restaurant called  
' Guchagucha Katasumi'  
The ad was very 'ambiguous', if you express it in a  
  
roundabound way.  
Short: Act as if you were a criminal.  
I want you to get yourself a job at that place and prick up  
your ears – I'm sure that you will pick something up –  
the location is one of his operation bases.  
I'm sure it won't be a problem for you to get yourself a  
new identity( including a fitting past).  
Watch out for Mr. Kinruikashira Jaken.  
He's one of Naraku's closest contact persons and he  
resorts to the Guchagucha Katasumi often.  
You find the details in the folder.  
Have fun.  
_  
Kagome groaned and reached for her steaming-hot coffee (with four spoons of sugar, of course). "How am I supposed to stuff all that in my brain in just one hour?!"  
  
A still sulking Inuyasha looked up from his reading ( a too long text about a specific restaurant) and shot her an angry glare, "Stop bitching! You were the one who was eager to help me."  
  
Kagome had won their little argument , and because of that, his ego was still ruffled. He wasn't used to accepting defeat.  
  
"So, what kind of restaurant is that?" Kagome asked to change the issue.  
  
"It's a 'normal' Japanese restaurant that is famous for its exquisite entertainment. From what I read here, there's a lot of illegal stuff going on 'behind the scenes'- which means, in this case, everywhere except for the area that is used for catering. We have to get a job there and we have to come on good terms with the people there, so we can get information out of them."  
  
Kagome shot him an anticipating look and asked, "What kind of 'entertainment'?"  
  
Inuyasha smirked, "Dirty entertainment, if you know what I mean..."  
  
"Oh no..."  
  
"Oh yes."

.

* * *

.

Kagome opened her fresh-printed passport and checked its content. "So my new name is Kagome Amaya, hm?" She grinned, "Sounds nice."  
  
They were walking down a unenlightened side street, not far from downtown. The rain had ceased hours ago, just to be replaced by a freezing cold. Small clouds accompanied every word Kagome said. Of course, the same effect would occur when Inuyasha said something. If he would say something. Inuyasha was moping because Kagome had pinned up his hair and stuffed it under a black hat.  
  
"Inuyasha, you don't need to make a fuss about it. We had to pin up your hair. It's just too conspicuous."  
  
All she got as a response was a low grumble "We're here."  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
"On your left side."  
  
"That?!"  
  
"Yep."  
  
The restaurant looked pretty tatty. The windows of the first floor were pasted with black plastic garbage bags. Dim light shone through the slits between the bags and the plaster crumbled off the cladding. There were no signs or whatsoever that gave away that there was a restaurant hidden somewhere behind these walls. The entrance looked like the door to a high- security prison. It was a blank metal door with a small scuttle that was covered by an iron plate.  
  
Kagome snorted, "Looks inviting."  
  
Inuyasha rose his hand and knocked at the door. After a few minutes, the plate was put back and a pink pair of eyes peered trough the opening. A cold female voice asked, "What do you want?"  
  
Kagome gave her her best bad-girl-look and said, "We're here because of the jobs that you offer."  
  
The woman closed the scuttle and disappeared. Inuyasha and Kagome could hear the sound of locks that were being unbarred. The door slid open with a creaky noise and revealed a slender woman with dark hair. She turned around and ordered, "Come in. And close the door." She waged her hand, indicating that they should follow her.  
  
Kagome exchanged a quick look with Inuyasha and then went ahead. She could hear the door banging, and Inuyasha's steps behind her.  
  
The strange woman led them through a hallway that came up to the outward impression that the building suggested: The floor was tiled with a cheap marble imitation, thin cracks spread over the flagstones and dirt gathered in the corners of the corridor. To their right site, a row of monotonous metal letter-boxes were screwed on the wall; just high enough that you could run into the sharp edge with your face if you didn't pay attention for a moment. Directly next to the stair there stood a baby carriage, and in the air lingered that typical staircase-smell, which you couldn't define properly and which seemed to be the same all over the world. The light was just faint enough to be not comfortable. Noises came trough the various thin doors; snippets of a conversation, loud music, moans, screams. Kagome imagined how it would be to live in such a world. Maybe it wasn't exactly hell, but by all means something that came close to her image of purgatory.  
  
The woman stopped in front of a door at the end of the corridor. She waited till both of them had reached her and then opened the door. They stepped into a room that didn't look like the hallway at all. The floor and the walls were coated with black velvet. Except for some sort of a sales counter, a phone and a curtain that obviously hid the door to the next room, the room was empty.  
  
The woman stretched out her hand and said, "My name is Kagura Tatsumaki. Call me Kagura. I'm the manageress here. And you are Ms. Amaya and Mr. Hayashi , I suppose."  
  
"That's correct." Inuyasha said before Kagome had a chance to open her mouth.  
  
"May I have your ID cards then?"  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha handed her their passports. Kagura disappeared behind the counter and they could hear an electronic buzzing, and a blue light flashed up. A few seconds later, Kagura returned and gave them their passports back. "Okay, you're clean."  
  
She looked Kagome over. "You're gonna be our new waitress, Miss Amaya. And you, Mr. Hayashi," she turned to Inuyasha, "are going to be our bartender, right?"  
  
Inuyasha nodded in agreement. Kagura continued, "You can start immediately, since you've already called me earlier, smart boy." Her looks indicated that she meant Inuyasha. "Mr. Hayashi, you can work in your own clothes. Just go through the door behind the curtain and you'll see the bar. Commit what is where to your memory. Hurry, we open in half an hour. Miss Amaya, follow me, I'll hand you your uniform."

.

* * *

.

Inuyasha watched them disappear. Kagome did a good job so far, he had to admit that. He sighed and brushed the curtain aside. He lifted an eyebrow in surprise. The restaurant – yes, now he was sure that it deserved that name – was absolutely classy. The bar filled out almost a quarter of the room, and the room was huge. The ebony tables and canapés were distributed in the remaining space.  
  
Inuyasha grinned contentedly. From the bar, he had the perfect survey of every nook.  
  
Inuyasha was getting nervous. The Guchagucha Katasumi had opened half an hour ago, and nearly every table had already been taken by dubious figures or doubtful businessmen. And the prostitutes of the restaurant, of course. And Kagome was still nowhere to be seen.  
  
Just as he finished that thought, the girl in question stepped through the door that led to the kitchen. She wore an outrageous short black skirt and a white, almost see-trough blouse. Every time she took a step, Inuyasha could see her panty. It was pink.  
  
She looked around, and when her eyes met his, a relieved smile parted her lips. She sidled through the people, avoiding the tables. She bent over the bar, and gave him a sign that she wanted to talk to him. At if that had been necessary. Inuyasha was already approaching her as fast as possible without attracting attention. He came to a halt in front of her and pretended to clean a glass. "Where have you been?!" he fizzed, never taking his eyes off the glass in his hands.  
  
"In the kitchen." She fizzed back. "I got to know some of the employees, but I wasn't able to find out anything. What about you?"  
  
"The same here."  
  
Kagome nodded and turned around. Just when she wanted to walk away, a voice stopped her. "Hey sweetie, come her!" Kagome glanced over her shoulder and saw one of the 'doubtful businessmen' patting the bar stool next to him. She gathered all the self-control she had and walked towards the men.

Kagome plastered a smile on her face, "What may I bring you, sir?"

"Your companionship." Kagome swallowed disgustedly and sat down on the barstool. She shot an I-need-help-glance to Inuyasha who observed the situation with eagle eyes. Inuyasha approached them immediately, as if he had just waited for a sign of hers. Well. Most likely he had.

"Would you like something, mister?" The businessman tore his lustful eyes from Kagome and levelled them to Inuyasha. "Tequila for me and the lady."

"I'm not allowed to drink at work."

The man looked back at her and winked, "Who cares?"

He put one of his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

Inuyasha interfered again, "So, what may I get you?" Inuyasha smiled at the man, but it was no friendly grin. It was that almost-grin, which you see once in a while on little dogs on the backseat of parked cars, shortly before they start to yap hysterically, and try to bite through the window pane. The businessman would have been at least slightly worried, if he had paid attention to Inuyasha. But he focused on other things.

Female legs, for example.

Kagome froze.

She could feel his hand moving up her thigh, his fingers slowly gliding under her skirt. Her eyes widened and her face went pale. That was enough of a cry for help for Inuyasha. His arm shot forward. Before the man had even noticed what was happening to him, he dangled a few inches over the ground. Inuyasha grabbed the man's collar tighter, "Don't touch her." He hissed, and Kagome was sure that his eyes went red for the fraction of a second. Inuyasha growled, and the man looked as if he was about to wet his pants. "Go now. And don't come back, or I'll make sure that you will never be able to walk again." Inuyasha released the man, gnashing his teeth in anger.  
  
The man whimpered and stumbled out of the Restaurant. Inuyasha turned his head to Kagome and whispered, "Are you okay?" The girl pressed her lips together and nodded. Then she hopped off the stool and headed towards one of the tables. Leaving a very guilty feeling Inuyasha behind who cursed himself for taking her with him.

.

* * *

.

Inuyasha and Kagome trotted down the street to Inuyasha's apartment. It was four o'clock in the morning. The hour, when Madame Night knits big black pullovers and the blood sugar slumps into the cellar to wobble around down there. Kagome sighed happily. They had reached Inuyasha's apartment building. She cleared her throat, "Inuyasha, before we go inside... I wanted to thank you for your help with that guy, you know who I mean." Inuyasha stared at her like she had committed a crime. "What do you thank me for? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been in that situation at all." Kagome smiled. "You know Inuyasha," she said softly, "I was wrong today – Under your granite-hard nutshell, you are a knight in shining armor."  
  
"Feh."

.

* * *

.


End file.
